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November 13, 2012

House Subcommittee Set to Release MF Global Collapse Report

The subcommittee says its investigation has involved three hearings, more than 50 interviews and the review of more than 243,000 documents

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The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations said Tuesday that it would release on Thursday its report, “The Collapse of MF Global.”

“Our investigation is essentially an autopsy of how MF Global came to its ultimate demise and what policy changes need to be made to prevent similar customer losses in the future,” said the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, in a statement. “We must restore confidence and integrity to the futures markets and send a strong signal to customers that their accounts are safe and secure.”

The subcommittee says its investigation has involved three hearings, more than 50 interviews and the review of more than 243,000 documents obtained from MF Global, its former employees, federal regulators and other sources.

“MF Global customers deserve to know how and why their funds went missing; market participants deserve to know whether regulatory lapses have been identified and corrected; and taxpayers deserve to know that policymakers and regulators have been held accountable,” Neugebauer said.

In late August, prosecutors dropped their criminal investigation into the former Goldman Sachs head/governor of New Jersey/disgraced MF Global CEO, Jon Corzine. The New York Times also reported at the time that Corzine might start a hedge fund.

Corzine testified before a House Committee last December, stating that he “apologized both personally and on behalf of my company” for both MF Global’s failure and for the nearly $1.2 billion in client funds that appear to be missing. “I simply do not know where the money is,” Corzine testified, “or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date.”

MF Global sought bankruptcy protection late last October, one week after reporting its biggest-ever quarterly loss.